Improvement in water-vessels for steam fire-proof safes



G. W. PUTN A'M. I WATERVESSBL FOR STEAM FIREPROOP SAFBS,

316104352. PatenfedJunel l, 1870.

= i WW) T amt $121125 p lm Ghillline.

- Letters Patent 1i 104,352, dated June 14, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT m .wawnavesssts ron STEAM nan-moor SAIES.

'l'hobchedulo referred to in those Letters Patent and making .part ofthe same To all wlwn t't may concern.- v 1 ,Be it known that I, GsonenW. PUTNAM, of'Billerica, in the county of Middlesex' and State of Massaehusetts, haveinvented an Improved Water-Vessel for Steam Fire-proofSafes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription,reference being bad to the accompanying drawing making part of thisspecification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan ofsmyimprowd \rater vcssel,-the top-being removed "to show the interior construe tron;

F gure 2 is-a transverse vertical section through the; same, on thelinea: xof fig. 1. Figure 3 is a longitudinal vertical section "through thesame, on the line 3 y of fig. 1; a

' Figure 4 is a transverse vertical section on the line zzoffigl, g

:In that class of safes known as steam fire-proof safes, thewatervcssels have heretofore been only half filled, the arrangement ofpipeswithin' these ves-' sels being such that, if they were more thanhalf filled, the exce'ss of water would escape, inthe event of the safebeing thrown into certain positions by being precipitated, in aconflagration, from the floor on which it originally stood.

My invention -has folits object'to' enable me to nearlyfill the vesselswith water,,with ont any liability of its escaping therefrom inany"positionintowhich they may be thrown, thus securing theadvantage ofhaving a larger quantity of water within the safe than heletofore, whichis-of great importance, in extensive conflagrations, whereit isdesirable to prolong vthe generation of steam as much as possible-pand-,My invention consistsin a peculiar arrangement of pipes or' passagesand chambers within theovessel, which admits of itsrbeing nearly filledwith water, without any liability of its escaping therefrom, whatevermay be its positionyin' consequence of the safe. being overturned'orthrown from the place where it originally stood.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand and use my invention,I will proceed to describe the "mime? in which I have carried it out.

III the said drawing...- l

A represents a vessel, made of coppeiytin, or other suitable material,and of a proper size to fit into the safeto which it is to he applied,that portion between the partitions a a being intended to bovery nearlyfilled with water.

Near each end of this vessel A are placed one, two, orv more small pipes11b 1) b, which I call encompassing or angle-pipes, as they are providedwith angles or, bends. y

One end of each of these pipes is fitted into an orifice, at c, near onecorner of the partition-a, and secured in place by means of solder.

. The arrangement of the pipes b being the same at each endlof thevessel, I will describe those at one end only. j

Each pipe 1) extends transversely around the vessel Aftouching the sidesthereof, and returns to the corner from which it started. 7

It'will be seen that, if that corner 6, from which one of theencompassing-pipes I) started,- is above the'wator-level, this pipe,whose inside end 6 is at that corner, cannot be choked "with water, butwill be fiee't-o' receive the collected steam (generated by the heat oftion a, as before stated.

If the position of the'sal'c should be changed, so as to bring thecorner which was above the water-level below the same, the water willenter the pipe b, but i cannot pass entirely around and through it,forthe reason that it cannot rise above its levelin the vessel A, and asthe'pipe passes transversely around the interior of this vessehit mustnecessarily, at one or more of the angles .or'bends, pass above the.waterlevel, and the water which entered the pipewill only flow a shortdistance therein, as it cannot rise over the corneror angle in the pipewhich is, above the water-level, and is thus prevented from escaping, asrequired.

By arranging the pipes I), as .above described, so

that they will encompass or surround a portion of the water within thevessel A, instead of going through it, one or moreof their mouthsorinlets 6 will always be above the water-level and open, when thevessel A 'is in any position, except inverted, and through the inletorinlets thus 1 rovidecl,'the steam from the boiling water will pass awayfrom the interior of the ves-- sel A l The encompassing-pipes b b may,if desired, be

somewhat varied in position. i

- It may not always be necessary thatthe innerend .of each pipe shouldreturn to'the corner from which it started, but it may. extend inanydesired direction,

which shall encompass the -water,-and present the necessary angles orbends above the water-level, to prevent the escape of the water, asnfiicient number of these angles, corners, or bonds in the pipes?) 11(or their equivalent water and steam passages) being always providedtosecure, in every case, the desired resn t.

" At each end of the vessel A is a small chamber, 0,

chnmber 0, goes from said small chamber into the have to turn upsidedown a corresponding number of pipe h, (which issues from saidchamber-62,) as far as long cor1duct-ing-pipe, h, and the steam, whichpasses through the encompassing-pipes b b into the small conducting-pipsh, and thro h said pipe intb the large chamber 9', at the end oftlievessel A. Each of the pipes it may, if desired, consist of a singlestraight piece, but I, prefer to have it double or return, for thereason that, by so doing, it becomes necessary for the safe to turnupside down twice, at least, beforeany water will pass into the largechamber g. By returning or doubling it twice or three times, the safewould times before anywater would enter'thc chamber g, but, in aconflagration, a safe is not liable to turn more than once. Theconducting-pipe h, when doubled or returned, is made with angles orcorners also, so as to increase the difficulty of getting any waterthrough it into the chamber g. The object of this conducting-pipe h isto open a communication between the encompassing-pipes b I) and thechamber 9, and to collect and convey the steam which comes through theencompassing-pipes into said chamber g, for its free discharge into theinterior of the safe. This conducting-pipe may, in fact, be consideredas onlya continnation of the encompassing-pipes, as the small chamber 0is used only for the purpose of connecting the encompassing orangle-pipes b'b with the conducting-pipe h. By joiningthe outlets of theencompass: lug-pipes to the conducting-pipe, the small chamber 0 could,however, be dispensed with.

Both the large chambers g g (due of which, as before described, isplaced at each end. of the vessel A) are provided with one or moredischarge-pipes, 'i-t', which communicate with the air outside-thevessel A, and these pipes t 11' convey the steam whiclrcomes through theconduct-ing-pipes'h h, into the chambers g g, out into the interior ofthe safe, for the protection of "the books, papers, and other contentsthereof. The object of the chambers g g is to catch any water which mayescape from the vessel A through the conducting-pipes h Ir. inconsequence of changes in the position of the safe, and retain saidwater until it is converted into steam, thus utilizing all the water.These chambers g g "lso receive, through the conducting-pipes h h, thesteam which is generated'in the body of the vessel A, and all the steampasses from these chambers into the interior of the safe, through thesteam-discharge pipes 'i i.

The orifice, through which I fill the vessel A with water or othersteam-generating fluid, I place in the side of the vessel, or in anyconvenient position, and, after filling the vessel, the orifice isclosed and tightly soldered up. Having thus described my water-vcssel Ain its first or normal position, I will now suppose that, in come quenceof the burning away,in aconflagration, of the floor on which the safestands, the safe itself is precipitated into the cellar below, andalights in,an inverted position, which position also inverts thewatervcssel A.

When the vessel A stood in the position first described the pipes b band chamber 6, at its lower end, were filled with water, which rose inthe conductingthe water-level, but no further.

The discharge-pipes i i are separate pipes grouped together, and theyare so arranged that, if any water should enter the chambers g g, inconsequence of changes in the position of the safe, the mouth of one ormore of thesedischarge-pipes 1' i will always be above the surface ofthe water in the chamber 9, and

will be free to carry off, into" the interior of the safe,

the steam generated from this small quantity of water in the chamber g,as well as all the steam which comes into this, chamber, through theconducting-pipe 1:, from the water in the body of the vessel A. I do notconfine myself, however, to the use of a group of four discharge-pipes,as a less number than four could be used, if desired.

It is, of course, desirable that as little water as pos-- sible shouldleave the body of the vessel A, in consequenoc of any change in theposition of the safe; and this escape of the water is elfectuallyguarded against by the employment of the encompassing-pipes orangle-pipes]: b, as it requires several turns of the safe to force anywater through them, and the little which would get through will beretained in the chamber g, and there be'converted into steam.

The main principle of my invention is contained in the encompassing orangle-pipes b b, the philosophical basis of the whole arrangement beingthe well-known fact'that water 'will not rise above the level of itssource or fountairu I close the inner or outer mouths of thedischargepipes i i with plugs of the fusible alloy in common use, orother equivalent arrangement, so as to prevent any dampness fromentering the safe. This alloy will melt at a low temperature, so that,in a con flagration, thepipes t i will always be free to convey thesteam into the interior of the safe.

. It will be seen, from the above description, that I have provided forthe free escape of the steam into the interior of the safe, and thesaving and utilizing, by' means of pipes and chambers, of all the water,let the position of the water-vessel be what it may, in copseqnence ofany changes in the position of the sa e.

My invention, as above described, is superior to all others, for thefollowing reason, viz: The best watervessels for steam fire-proof safesheretofore invented are only intended to be filled half full of water.If more water is put in, it will run out in certain positions, leavingthe vessel but half full. My improved water-vessel may be nearly filledwith water between the partitions a a, and, in practice, the chambers gg may be made so small as to occupy very little space within the vesselA, and, by means of the encompassl ng-pipes or angle-pipes b b, the.conducting-pipes h, and chambers g, all the water will be retained andutilized. This, of course, is a very important consideration, for, in acouflagration of long continuance, every drop of water may be needed forthe protection of the contents of the safe.

To prevent corrosion from the long standing of water in thewater-vessels, a cement of coal-tar and plaster of Paris, or sand, orpulverized marble, 8170., may be put all over the inside of the vessels.

It is a well-known fact that a vessel made of metal, glass, or poieelain, when filled with water, will sometimes be covered outside withmoisture, which conside ofithe water-vessels will then pass to thebooks,

cloth, 870., being a non-conductor of heat and being denses thereon,under certain conditions 'of the atmosphere, viz: when the surroundingatmosphere is warmer than the vessel and its contents of cold water.This is sometimes the vcondition of the water-vessels placed infire-proof sales, and the moisture on the outpapers, 4&o., in theinterior of ,the safe, injuring-the same by'nialring them (lamp. andmoldy,

To prevent this condensation of moisturzy'I placeon the outside of thevessel woolen cloth-or felting k. This covering of cloth, &c., willeffectually prevent the condensation of moisture above mentioned, the

interposed between the cold surface of the vessel and the warmeratmosphere whichsurrounds it; will prevent the moistureof thea'ir fromcondensing on the surface of the water-vessel; or, instead of the clothor felting above mentioned; the outside of the water-ves sel maybecovered with oil, paint, .or other suitable adhesive substance, andflock. or ground woolen rags, &:c., sprinkled oven it before it hasdried, "which :will thus form a; coating similar .to cloth or felting,

which will answer-the same purpose, and prevent the condensation ofmoisture or vapor on the. outside of the water-vessel.

Claims. What I clailn'as my invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is I 1. The water-vesseLA, with s r-without the =obam-- bers ee,in combination with the pipes b b and ,h h,

chambers g, and steam-discharge pipes i 'i, constructed and operatingsubstantially as and for the purpose set forth. a

2. The water-vcssel-A, in combination with the pipes b b and the pipes hh, either double or single,

operating substantially as and for the, pnrpose'(le.

scribed v 3. The \vater-rcss el A, in combination witlrsuitahlecoudueting-pipes, as constructed; and a chamber, y, at eachcnd,vsubstantially as and 'fortl'ie'purpose described.

Witness my hand this 6th day of May, A. D. 1870. Witnesses: I GEORGE W.PUTNAM;

Tnsonnmaonnn, W. J. Surname-n;

